Texas Premiere of the HBO Film Thurgood

Feb 17, 2011

In honor of Black History Month, the LBJ Library and HBO Films present Thurgood, a film of the play about Thurgood Marshall, civil rights pioneer and first African American appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court by President Johnson.

Reporters will have the rare opportunity to meet and interview John Marshall, Thurgood Marshall's son, and George Stevens, Jr., the acclaimed writer, director, and producer.

What: Press Conference

Who: John Marshall, son of Thurgood Marshall George Stevens, Jr., playwright and executive producer of Thurgood

Told in the first person by actor Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood captures the turning points in Marshall's life and career. This one-man play was filmed in front of a live audience in Washington, D. C. Fishburne was nominated for a Tony for his compelling performance. The film debuts on HBO on February 24th, two days after this program in Austin.

Following the afternoon press conference, the LBJ Library and HBO Films will present the Texas premiere of Thurgood in the LBJ Auditorium. Members of the news media are invited to cover the discussion and screening.

John Marshall
Appointed as the first African American Director of the U. S. Marshalls by President Bill Clinton. Served as Secretary of Public Safety, State of Virginia. Member, Virginia State Police.

George Stevens, Jr.
George Stevens, Jr. has achieved an extraordinary creative legacy over a career spanning almost 50 years. He is a writer, director, producer, playwright and author. He has enriched the film and television arts as a distinguished filmmaker and is widely credited with bringing style and taste to the national television events he has conceived, including The Kennedy Center Honors, which took place for the 33rd time in 2010.

Stevens has earned many accolades, including fourteen Emmys, two Peabody Awards for Meritorious Service to Broadcasting and eight awards from the Writers Guild of America. In October, 2009 President Obama named Stevens to be Co-chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

In 2008, Stevens made his debut as a playwright with Thurgood, which opened at the historic Booth Theater on Broadway in April 2008. The play earned sold-out runs at the Kennedy Center and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

Stevens was executive producer of The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Stevens is the founder of the American Film Institute and during his tenure, more than 20,000 irreplaceable American films were preserved and catalogued to be enjoyed by future generations.

In 2008, Stevens made his debut as a playwright with Thurgood, which opened at the historic Booth Theater on Broadway in April 2008. The play earned sold-out runs at the Kennedy Center and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

Stevens was executive producer of The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Stevens is the founder of the American Film Institute and during his tenure, more than 20,000 irreplaceable American films were preserved and catalogued to be enjoyed by future generations.

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